Some young people in Zimbabwe are reportedly taking chemicals used in diapers and sanitary pads to get high at a cheaper cost.
They have told Al Jazeera that they get the white substance – a chemical known as sodium polyacrylate – from these products and boil it.
“After boiling, it forms a greyish substance and we drink the mixture,” a 19-year-old youth told Al Jazeera.
The chemical absorbs menstrual blood on sanitary pads and urine on diapers. It dissolves once boiled.
Drug abuse and the use of alternative ways by the youth to get high is being blamed on a lack of social safety nets in Zimbabwe amid a poor economy.
